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Random thoughts on our impending doom and everyday life, courtesy of a Romance Writer who occasionally feels the need to talk like a Sailor.

Tuesday 28 February 2012


World Building and Deep Point of View...

I strongly suspect I could never write historical due to the amount of research involved. One of my writing buddies is currently scouring books on Victorian Surgery practices, morbid but fascinating. She’s all over the names of instruments and exactly how amputations and dissections were carried out. I prefer to invent, or speculate, on future times. Reality can be mighty limiting, but the bare bones are still required, the world has to be plausible. People need to relate, to be able to imagine themselves wandering through the landscape.

So, how much information to put in? Three paragraphs detailing the characters costume brings things to a screaming halt. Three paragraphs... huh! Once upon a time, I put in three pages. Being spanked for same has made me wary of over indulging in details, but my current work in progress, a sci-fi tale, needs more world building. Info dumps are out. Deep point of view is in. All of the sights, scents, sounds, tastes and touching that go on must be revealed in greater depth. 

But not too much. 

It’s a balancing act. I’ve received lots of excellent advice and today I’m rolling with ‘Read your work aloud’. Astrid the Schnauzer has already evacuated the room, heading for quieter corners. 

Song for the Day is Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift and the Civil Wars

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